Manuel Rodrigues was shot three times in the back of the head, twice in the right hand and once in the back – all because he did the right thing, officials said.

Rodrigues, 32, who drove a van carrying workers to job sites, witnessed a murder and testified willingly before a grand jury hearing evidence against the murder suspect, Michael Barros.

In retaliation, authorities say, two friends of Barros fired six shots at Rodrigues at 5:30 a.m. Feb. 17, gunning him down as he stood on the porch of his girlfriend’s home on Nilsson Street in Brockton. He was on his way to work.

Early Thursday morning, federal, state and local police swept through Brockton, arresting two men on charges of killing Rodrigues. Police also seized crack cocaine and four weapons, including an SKS semi-automatic assault rifle.

“Brockton is safer today than it was yesterday,” Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy J. Cruz said. “A couple of individuals have been taken off the street that were incredibly dangerous, and four weapons were taken off the street today.”

Joao Fernandes, 28, of 44 Parker St., Brockton, was charged with murder, four counts of unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful possession of ammunition and trafficking in cocaine.

Michael Goncalves, 25, with addresses in Brockton and Taunton, was charged with murder, unlawful possession of a firearm and unlawful possession of ammunition.

The seven-month investigation also yielded two additional arrests unrelated to the murder.

During a search of Fernandes’ apartment, police found three guns, including the assault rifle, a .40-caliber semi-automatic handgun and a .25-caliber semi-automatic handgun.

Arrested at the scene was Carlos Fernandes, 30, on charges of unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition.

Goncalves was arrested in Taunton following a police chase that resulted in a crash. In the vehicle with him was Jermaine Gonsalves, 23, of 43 Melrose St., Brockton, along with a 9mm semi-automatic handgun and crack cocaine.

Gonsalves was arrested on federal narcotics charges and held for arraignment in U.S. District Court in Boston.

“Our sympathies go out to the family of Manny Rodrigues,” Cruz said Thursday. “He was a hard-working man who wanted to do the right thing. Despite the danger that he knew he faced, at the end of the day he put the good of his community first.”

Cruz said the district attorney’s office had offered relocation services to Rodrigues to protect him from retaliation. But Rodrigues had ties to Brockton, where his late father ran a temporary employment agency.

“Sometimes people leave, and then they come back,” Cruz said. “He had family and a business here. People have business, family and friends here and all of a sudden you’re saying to them, ‘You’ve got to leave your life behind.’”

Cruz said police have evidence that the night before Rodrigues was murdered, Fernandes went to a friend’s home in Brockton and obtained a .45-caliber Ruger handgun, ski mask and gloves, leaving in a car driven by Goncalves. Hours after the murder, Cruz said, the murder suspect returned to the house and asked his friend to dispose of a bag containing his clothes.

Page 2 of 2 -
Fernandes was to receive $3,000 from Goncalves for killing Rodrigues, Cruz said, and after the murder, witnesses saw him with the money.

Barros is awaiting trial on a charge of murder in the drive-by shooting of Moises Vicente, 23, of Attleboro, on Hancock Street in Brockton on Jan. 17.

The investigation into Rodrigues’ death was conducted by state and Brockton police detectives, the FBI, the State Police Gang Unit, STOP Team, K-9 Unit, FBI SWAT team and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

The discussion continues on the Patriot Ledger blog "It's time to crackdown on witness intimidation" Join in the discussion.